The visual language of food has long fed the imaginations of artists and designers alike – think of Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans or Paula Scher’s classic hot dog poster for New York’s The Public Theater. Now, another of the city’s cherished institutions, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), is putting food design front and centre with a curated concept pop-up at its two Design Store sites in Midtown and SoHo.
Running through to March 29, MoMA Mart is well-stocked with an assortment of grocery staples that are not what they first appear. From jars of peanut butter and punnets of heirloom tomatoes to bear-shaped squeezy bottles of honey and cartons of milk, everything here is 100% inedible, highlighting how familiar forms can be transformed through playful, often unexpected subversion. Eat your heart out, Heston Blumenthal.
MoMA Mart poster; All images © MoMA
MoMA Mart shopping bag
“Food has always been a powerful cultural force, and designers are embracing it in fresh, imaginative ways,” said Emmanuel Plat, director of merchandising at MoMA. “MoMA Mart brings that creativity to life while drawing a line back to MoMA’s own history of collecting faux-food objects that blur the boundaries between art, humour and daily experience.”
Clearly influenced by Pop Art and artists such as Claes Oldenburg and Ed Ruscha, MoMA Mart nods to a tradition that stretches from early 20th-century modernism to today’s meme-fuelled visual culture. Among the items on offer are a glass tomato table lamp by French homeware brand L’expressionist, a tinned fish trinket box by New York-based lifestyle brand Solar Eclipse and a baguette-shaped umbrella by Dutch designers Kikkerland.
If that hasn’t quite sated your appetite, there’s also a trio of condiment jar timers by Balvi, an orange juice ceramic vase by Jeremy Duchiron, a gold-plated green apple necklace by Andrés Gallardo, and as much Jelly Cat plush as you could shake a celery stick at. All are inventive design pieces that invite a double take, and maybe even a mild craving. As always, every purchase directly supports the museum and its programming.
What’s really clever about MoMA Mart is that it feels less like a glorified gift shop and more like a culturally astute walk-in exhibition. By putting a surprising twist on a rather mundane retail setting, it celebrates both the visual humour and design craft of faux food while encouraging visitors to savour the joy of experiencing everyday objects anew. Just don’t go on an empty stomach.
You can explore the full faux-food range at MoMA Design Store locations in Midtown and SoHo, as well as online at store.moma.org
